Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, grievously wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, made an emotional plea on Wednesday for Congress to take action to curb gun violence in the aftermath of last month’s Connecticut school massacre, urging lawmakers to “be bold, be courageous.”
Wearing a red jacket and speaking haltingly, Giffords opened testimony at the first congressional hearing on gun violence since the December 14 incident in which a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Responding to outrage across the country following that massacre, President Barack Obama and other Democrats have asked Congress to pass the largest package of gun restrictions in decades.
“This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats and Republicans,” Giffords, who survived a head wound in an assassination attempt last year in Tucson, Arizona, told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Six people were killed and 13 wounded in the incident.
READ ON: Giffords makes emotional plea as lawmakers confront gun violence
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said on Tuesday he planned to resign, marking the latest departure from President Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
“I have let President Obama know that I will not serve a second term as secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation,” LaHood said in a statement.
LaHood, a Republican and former Illinois congressman, brought a bipartisan element to the Democratic president’s team. LaHood said he would stay on until his successor is confirmed by the Senate.
Obama has been under pressure to bring more women and minorities into his Cabinet.
"We are amazed that Obama has been re-elected. But for us there is no difference between Obama and Romney; both are enemies. And we will keep up our jihad and fight alongside our Afghan brothers to get the Americans out of Afghanistan."
— Pakistan Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, expressing surprise that President Obama won re-election on Tuesday. [read on…]
![U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama celebrate with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill after his victory speech election night in Chicago, November 6, 2012. [REUTERS/Jason Reed]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md3xlbjKdi1rtzzbqo1_500.jpg)
![Supporters look on as they watch results on a large screen as a major news network projected Ohio for President Barack Obama at the U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney election night rally in Boston, Massachusetts November 6, 2012. [REUTERS/Mike Segar]
LIVE COVERAGE: The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md3ogfni8U1rtzzbqo1_500.jpg)
Supporters look on as they watch results on a large screen as a major news network projected Ohio for President Barack Obama at the U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney election night rally in Boston, Massachusetts November 6, 2012. [REUTERS/Mike Segar]
LIVE COVERAGE: The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election
